V10 Break-In

Just got my truck back with a new V10 installed. Looking for tips on how to break-in the motor. Should I take a long drive on the highway or just do normal driving in city and highway combined. How many miles should I go before I change the oil? How many miles should I put on the motor before I tow the toy hauler?

I was just reading about this the other day, and now I can't find the article. Basically, the point of break in is to seat the piston rings with the cylinder wall so they form a nice tight seal. You want to vary your speed, avoid heavy towing for the first 500 or so miles, don't spend a long time idling, but let your truck cool back down a bit after running it under load before you shut it off.

For the break in period, you should allow your truck to cool all the way before starting it, and warm up all the way before shutting it off. Don't run up the street to 7-11 and shut it off. Don't let it sit for 10-20 mins then come back out and start it up again.

Basically, you want even smooth heat cycles that heat the truck all the way up and cool them down cyclically, without overheating it, which can glaze the walls and without underheating, which can cause something similar to glazing, but the name escapes me at the moment, which also results in blow by, oil contamination, loss of potential power, reduction in oil life, and overall reduction in engine life. Hope that helps some.

In short, you don't want just a nice long highway, or just city driving. You want to mix it up, load it, but don't over load it, and be kind on the heat up and cool down cycles for the first few thousand miles. The longer you can go doing that, the more power and life you'll get out of the motor. And you'll use less oil.

rikosintie - I had it installed at a Ford Truck Center. Total cost was 6800.00 that included oil, coolant, belt, and some hoses. As a side note I chose the new motor over a rebuild because of the warranty which is 3 years - 100,000 miles. I felt the extra cost of a new motor was worth the warranty.

CraigOutdoors - Thanks for the information this is some thing I've been looking for but was unable to find.

The formula that I have used for many years and vehicles is to run them normally in city driving for the first 500 miles under 60 mph using petroleum oil, change the oil to a good grade synthetic, I like Mobil 1, and then drive normal for the next 1500 miles at no more than 70 mph and change the oil again and of course always using a good oil filter. I have never had a problem with high oil consumption between changes or an engine problem that was not self induced due to racing and over revving the engine.

LOTS of variation, avoid constant throttle settings. Avoid sustained high rpms. Avoid heavy throttle at high rpms. Long highway trips are the worst thing. Well, that and bouncing it off the rev limiter in neutral....

My other favorite tip to help guarantee a low oil consuming engine: Every now and then, make her grunt. Give it about half throttle - just enough to make her work hard but not quite enough to downshift and rev out. If you can get her to accelerate "briskly" while revving from 1500 to 4000 rpms and then just roll off gently and then drive easy for 5 mins after that (for cooling), perfect.
The goal is to build up some very good cylinder pressures to force the rings against the cylinder walls and form a good seal. I believe the root cause for most "oil burners" was being babied too much when breaking in and the rings never sealed correctly.

rikosintie - I had it installed at a Ford Truck Center. Total cost was 6800.00 that included oil, coolant, belt, and some hoses. As a side note I chose the new motor over a rebuild because of the warranty which is 3 years - 100,000 miles. I felt the extra cost of a new motor was worth the warranty.

CraigOutdoors - Thanks for the information this is some thing I've been looking for but was unable to find.

Thank you!!!

No problem. Happy to help. Congrats on the new engine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwsF250

In practice, none. When breaking in a new vehicle, you're breaking in a lot of other parts as well, but the engine is the most sensitive.

What he said. And what he said earlier about pushing it a little bit then going easy throttle for a bit too. I was trying to say that earlier, but he said it better. Thanks for the clarification.

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